Phrygia: The Legendary Lands of King Midas
In the heart of Anatolia, in the lands watered by the Sakarya River, a great kingdom once reigned: Phrygia. The name of this kingdom has been associated for thousands of years with themes of wealth, greed, and divine punishment,
almost synonymous with its legendary ruler, King Midas. Midas, etched into modern consciousness with myths such as his "golden touch" that turned everything he touched into gold, and his punishment with "donkey ears" for defying the gods, transformed Phrygia into a land shrouded in legends. However, a numismatic tour of Phrygia reveals the historical reality behind these myths and the region's complex monetary past. Although we may not find Midas's own coins on this tour, we discover how his legend inspired the birth of coinage and the rich numismatic heritage that later flourished in the lands of his kingdom.
First and foremost, a fundamental historical fact must be established: The legendary King Midas did not strike coins in his own name. The historical King Midas, referred to as "Mita of Mushki" in Assyrian sources and known to have lived in the 8th century BCE, reigned approximately a century before the invention of coinage. The invention of coinage occurred in the mid-7th century BCE in the Kingdom of Lydia, Phrygia's neighbor and successor. So, why is the Midas legend so intertwined with money?
The answer lies in the "golden touch" myth itself. According to the legend, Midas, as a reward for his hospitality to a companion of Dionysus, the god of wine, wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. However, realizing this power was a curse, he purified himself of it by washing in the Pactolus River (Sart Çayı) on Dionysus's advice. From that day on, it is believed that the bed of the Pactolus River was filled with gold particles. This myth is, in fact, an etiological story; that is, a legend explaining a natural phenomenon. The Pactolus River was indeed the main source of electrum, the natural gold-silver alloy that Lydia used to strike its first coins. Therefore, the Midas legend can be seen as a poetic narrative explaining the origin of the raw material for coinage.
After the fall of Midas's kingdom, the lands of Phrygia successively came under Lydian, Persian, Macedonian, Seleucid, and Pergamene rule, finally becoming part of Rome. It was during these periods that Phrygia's true numismatic heritage emerged. More than 50 mints operated in the region, each striking its own local coinage. Among these cities, Apameia, Aizanis, Amorium, Hierapolis, Kotiaeion (Kütahya), and Laodikeia are the most significant.
The coins struck by these cities reflect Phrygia's enduring cultural and religious heritage. Foremost among these is the cult of Cybele, the mother goddess of Anatolia and the most important deity worshipped by the Phrygians. Cities like Pessinus used Cybele and her consort Attis as the main themes on their coins. Another important theme is the region's geography. For example, Apameia, one of Phrygia's largest trade centers, frequently depicted the Maeander River as a river god on its coins.
In conclusion, a numismatic tour of Phrygia does not lead us directly to the coins of King Midas. However, it takes us on a much more interesting journey: we see how the Midas legend explains the origin of gold, the raw material for coinage. Subsequently, in the lands where he once reigned, we witness how cities established centuries later depicted Phrygia's ancient gods and geography on their own coins. This is the story of how a king's legend, transcending the lifespan of his own kingdom, became immortalized in numismatic history.
Sources:
https://kiyidan.com/2021/04/26/kral-midas-efsanesi/
https://frigvadileri.com.tr/kral-midas/
https://turkishmuseums.com/blog/detail/efsanevi-frig-krali-midas/10083/1
https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/tariharastirmalari/issue/47752/603188
https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midas
https://asiaminorcoins.com/phrygia.html